Bobby Gillespie

Bobby Gillespie, Jehnny Beth – Utopian Ashes (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 39:42 minutes | 462 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Silvertone

What do you get when the man behind Primal Scream’s “Kill All Hippies” and the woman responsible for the careening wail of brutal Savages tracks like “No Face” make a record together? A genteel, sophisticated, and emotionally resonant album about the devastation of a broken romance, of course. While a soft rock album may not be the first thing one would expect from Bobby GIllespie and Jehnny Beth, it’s actually quite easy to find a throughline to this material from both the classic-rock slow jams in Primal Scream’s catalog and the balladry found on Jehnny Beth’s 2016 solo release. Still, when one discovers the Utopian Ashes aren’t that of a civilization destroyed by consumerism and conservatism, but instead of a once-blissful relationship now on its last legs, it is something of a pleasant surprise. With a band lineup that’s basically Primal Scream plus Jehnny Beth and her longtime collaborator Johnny Hostile, Utopian Ashes feels both connected to and entirely apart from any of their previous output, with strings and brass and lush guitar work providing the construction materials for songs that are as moody as they are heartfelt.
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